Anna-Clara Tidholm

Anna-Clara
Tidholm

Anna-Clara
Tidholm
NomiNated for
the 2010 h.C. aNderseN Prize
by the Swedish Section of IBBY

Content
Ulla Rhedin: A child’s perspective
a a constant point of departure:
Anna-Clara Tidholm and the road
to a completely new picture book 3
Birgitta Fransson: Anna-Clara Tidholm’s
previous books 13
Helen Lumholdt: Reading should
be non-educational (interview with
Anna-Clara Tidholm) 22
Anna-Clara Tidholm: One more
time 28
Biography 30
Prizes 30
Bibliography 31
4

a child’s perspective as a constant point of departure:
anna-Clara tidholm and the road to a completely new picture book
Picture book characters? I have
hardly created a single one, at least
no one of those ‘beloved’ ones as they
usually say about picture book characters.
If there is one it would be that
little chap with the round hat and a
dog called Hej.
My interest in such characters has
been minimal. The main reason is
in fact that I am so incredibly bad
at drawing a figure that looks the
same throughout a whole book.
Another reason is that it is dull work
drawing the same figure on every
page in eighteen books. I have even
made children’s books without any
characters. And I have a theory that
children get more involved in picture
books without any people in them at
all – I make the child reading a book
into the main character, quite simply.
(Anna-Clara Tidholm in a letter to the
author 2007, transl. by David Isitt)
“To catch the child’s perspective”,
says Anna-Clara Tidholm, “is probably
what most preoccupies and
inspires me: to try to begin from
the same level and perspective as
that from a child’s eyes. How do
children perceive their lives? How
can I as an adult recreate their perspective?”
This theory of ’the child’s perspective’
was developed over nearly
40 years of her own writing and
illustrating childrens’ books. This
took place about a decade after her
debut as an illustrator in the 1970’s
and a few years after her breakthrough
with the experimental and
still avant garde picture book “Åkeboken”
(“The Åke Book”, 1983; text
by her husband Thomas Tidholm,
poet and musician.)
5

Then already by the beginning
of the 1980’s did they develop their
joint view of the picture book as
story telling without the need of
traditional (adult) dramaturgy,
since children have not acquired
the same literary expectations as
adults, they “assemble” a plot on
significantly looser grounds, as in
this case, scene after scene linked
together into a rather loose, open
and impressionist construction.
In 1987 their book “Resan till
Ugri-la-Brek” was published (“The
Journey to Ugri-la-Brek”, awarded
with the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
1992). Here two children are
looking for their grandfather.
Anna-Clara Tidholm shows how
they, a bit afraid and lost, look into
his apartment, the door ajar behind
them and the dog in front of
them in the room, the apartment
is empty, his eye glasses still there
thus leaving him without the ability
to fill in the form for the foot-
6
ball pools. Then after the children
after many adventures and a long
journey to “the Other side of the
World” find him to hand him his
eyeglasses, she chooses the same
composition, the same scenography,
to demonstrate how limited
and dependent on reality the imagination
of children is.
In the parallel image, the children
display the same hesitation as
in the first picture, the open door
behind them and the dog in front of
them, in the same yet slightly different
room. Their grandfather is sitting
in his chair and reassures them
that he is fine and that he does not
need his eyeglasses any more.
They cannot imagine his new existence
differently: that grandfather
perhaps (probably) is dead is never
mentioned or shown. This fact has
to be concluded by every child who
is prepared to do so. The pictures
(as well as text) express their only
possible perspective, the child’s perspective,
and they are in this sense
profoundly “childological”.

Playing, the children work
themselves toward their truth about
their grandfather’s disappearance.
Anna-Clara Tidholm emphasises
this perhaps mostly by letting them
wear different clothes: in the framing
pictures they wear one set of
clothes while they have different
sets during the travel, their play.
While the text demonstrates the
child’s perspective using children’s
choice of words, syntax, children’s
cognitive framework and concepts,
Anna-Clara Tidholm expands on
the child’s perspective through a
“naïve” style: this is how a child
might draw. A rather common,
typical human portrayal with more
en face and camera-looks than profiles
and abbreviations; naïve and
unfolded spatial perspectives and
simple, rough techniques typical
for children. She mainly uses water
color for her drawings with clear
and soft out lines. Occasionally
she resorts to children’s crayons or
color pencils of more pale nuances,
giving the impression of a spontaneous
and naïve formalizing, thus
text and illustration cooperate in a
naïve perspective in solidarity with
the child. This is an artistic and aesthetic
challenge, at the same time
deliberately close to children’s ways
of expressing themselves in words
and pictures.
Psychological/existential themes in
picture books for pre-school children
Anna-Clara Tidholm has repeatedly
returned to difficult and psychologically
dark and worrying themes
in a number of picture books –
jointly with her husband Thomas
Tidholm in several books that have
become classics, and also in cooperation
with other authors. She
has also produced picture books
on her own, such as a story about
psychogical crisis in “Hanna, huset,
hunden” (“Hanna, the House, the
Dog”), which has attracted wide-
spread attention (nominated for the
August Prize in 2004).
Her third cooperation with the
author Ulf Nilsson for “Adjö, Herr
Muffin” (“Good bye, Mr. Muffin”
) which also deals with death,
rendered them this very prize in
2002. This is a soft and warm story
7

about the last and lonely time of
an old guinea pig. His family has
been scattered and only his own
thoughts about their past remain.
This is a tender story about a good
aging process of integration while
death is unavoidably getting closer.
Anna-Clara Tidholm pictures, in a
rather naturalistic way, a carefully
personified guinea pig (not dressed)
living in a relationship with a caring
owner/person in a tiny house
with small furniture, a mailbox and
a working mail system. The death
process is told on the seven last
spreads from the moment he is too
weak to rise from his bed until the
funeral is over and the reactions to
his death begin to show (e.g. in the
TV-news) in mildly ironical final
scenes.
While “Good bye, Mr. Muffin”
won immediate acclaim also among
adult readers the most recent book
by the Tidholms, “Snälla barn”
8
(“Nice Children”, 2007), encountered
more skepticism among adult
intermediaries. The story is about
two half sisters who spend their
afternoons alone at home after
school. On this particular day both
parents are late and the girls have
to manage on their own until their
father/stepfather returns.
Basically the story is without
drama, it is a realistic description
of life in a modern step family. The
children act as a liason between
the two absent parents, who try
to direct their lives via cell phones
rather than to cooperate. Anna-
Clara Tidholm attempted initially
to illustrate the book with her usual
water color technique but almost at
once turned to her children’s crayon
technique. As in “Åke-boken”, in
the deeply philosophical “Lanas
land” (1996) and in “Hanna, huset,
hunden”, there is in “Snälla barn”
something unstated that sets the
reader’s imagination in motion.
One suspects that this family life
is not easy and one does not really
know why the mother is late. There
is a suggestion that this family perhaps
will not stay together.
“Crayons and colour pencils allow
for a higher degree of naïvité
than water colour”, says Anna-Clara
Tidholm. “They reduce the psychological
temperature making it less

energetic, more everyday and closer
to the child.” In spite of this many
critics are of the opinion that the
book is a painful demonstration of
how exposed modern children are.
One critic regarded the book as an
apocalypse over modern family life,
while school children of the same
ages as the children in the book
without difficulties seem to recognize
themselves and their modern
technical world where cordless
telephones, remote controls and
electronic gadgets compensate
for absent adults during long and
lonely afternoons.
How to to render history live
for children
Another track in Anna-Clara
Tidholm’s illustrations concerns
the problem of describing the past
in a way possible to understand by
children of today.
In their book “Förr i tiden i
skogen” (“In the Old Days in the
Forest”, nominated for the August
Prize 1993) the Tidholms write
about the revolution beginning in
the middle of the 19th century in a
poor Sweden. This is when a comprehensive
literacy campaign was
launched and compulsory education
was introduced for the first
time. The book shows how the royal
emissary reads a decree sitting on
horseback outside the little cottage
in the forest. Natan’s father is
annoyed with these modern ideas
and forces Natan to shoot squirrels
on his way to and from school for
the boy to be of at least some use.
For Natan however the school, the
reader and the elegant teacher are a
decisive light in a tough and motherless
existence.
In a following picture book with
a historical motif, “Långa ben”
(“Long legs”, 1999) the Tidholms
depict another historical time
9

through the eyes of a child. The
unruly and insecure migration
period where every day is a struggle
between “us” and “the others” for
survival. The story is told in the
voice of an anonymous child. These
books render a kind of poetical
version of how it might have been
as a child at various points in time,
when children frequently were at
peril – times from which the experiences
of children had not been
sorted out as worthy of attention or
depiction.
A similar historical theme is found
in a comprehensive fact book,
“Flickornas historia” (“The Girls
History”, 1997) with text by Kristina
10
Lindström. Here we find Swedish
history pictured through the lives of
seventeen young women from various
social classes, from the stone
age to modern times. This book is
intended for readers of school age.
It is richly illustrated with softly
drawn black and white vignettes
with pictures the size of half a page
as well as a number of full page
coloured illustrations by Anna-
Clara Tidholm.
In a current exhibition (still open
during the summer season 2009)
Anna-Clara Tidholm tries her pictorial
story telling in a new kind of
exhibition for children, “Hela livet
förr i tiden” (“Whole Life in the Old
Days” at the Hälsingland County
Museum).
In cooperation with the russianfinnish
scenic designer Alexander
Reichstein she has created a new,
three dimensional exhibition model
in which the children walk along
a village street between different
houses. In a suggestive and living
display various stations through life
are depicted, from birth to death.
The houses are constructed from a
light metal and transparent cloth;
they are heavily “illustrated” with
full scale persons in various activities
and furnished with few simple
tools and toys from the period.

When children enter the houses
they are surrounded by the people
there, and there is a strong and
magical feeling of having been invited
to take part in the picture.
Toward the poetics of the picture
book for toddlers
The direction mostly associated
with Ann-Clara Tidholm in Sweden
is her unique investigation over
many years into the poetics of children’s
books and the exploration
of the really young child’s reading
perspective. Is it possible to engage
children younger than two years in
the interplay with children’s books?
What would be the purpose of such
an early engagement? To provide
experience, impulses, stimulate
the imagination or contribute to
an energetic interaction with the
adult? The book is an unknown
and fascinating object, Anna-Clara
Tidholm argues, it can be handled,
perused and browsed in various
ways. Perhaps the story in and of
itself need not be most important?
Perhaps a consistent plot is completely
unnecessary? Perhaps there
is even no need for a leading character?
Perhaps the book is primarily
an incitement to new worlds of play
or pure play?
She has told that she approached
the browsing, the turning of the
page” as the dramaturgical foundation
and powerful basic condition
of the book. Pages can be opened
and closed like “doors”! Had one
ever made full use of the browsing?
A quick exploration of the history
of the picture book demonstrated
that some forerunners had touched
upon this but there was much left
to gain from the specific, physical
quality of the book.
The result was the picture book
for toddlers “Knacka på!” (Knock,
knock, knock”, 1992) where the
pages on the right are doors in various
colours to be knocked, so that
the reader is brought into different
situations, and new doors in the
background lead to new rooms and
new contexts. The child / reader
soon learns to knock on every door
and open them in optional order
until she exits the house. One of the
11

secrets with this story is that the
reader is its main character.
Once the illustrations were
completed only a simple text was
missing. “My own attempts were
completely muted, they sounded
like a reader for the first grade.”
Anna-Clara Tidholm then turned
to her husband Thomas Tidholm,
who wrote a short, rhythmical, almost
rapping text which turned out
to be perfect. However he declined
to be namned as author; this book
was the creation of Anna-Clara,
Thomas said. At the end of the
book he has been thanked for his
assistance with the text. “Knacka
på!” has become a huge success
not only in Sweden. And this is
an early, interactive picture book!
Happy parents tell stories about
how their 8-9 months old children
have learned to knock and open
the doors of this book! However
the second secret has unfortunately
remained in Sweden: the original
text which seems so simple is in fact
a rhythmic and effective rap text
written by a professional poet. In
many translations to other languages
the text has been transformed
into a more traditional educational
and altogether too obvious text.
During a large international
exhibition of picture books at The
Nordic Watercolour Museum the
12
guided tours for schoolchildren
began at the wall where the original
drawings for “Knacka på!” were
shown. On one occasion while the
art curator was presenting the origins
of the book, all the boys (aged
fourteen) requested “Let us knock!
Let us knock!” All Swedish children
now hold this “first book” in dear
memory.
The book “Knacka på!” was
followed by three books with
similar planning for play (“Ut och
gå!”/“Out Walking” 1993, “Hitta
på!”/“Find Out” 1993, “Varför
då?”/“Tell Me Why” 1994) and a
cd-rom which makes it possible for
children from age two to play with,
transform and expand the contents
of the book by pointing at figures
and objects. It may be to put vegetables
in a pot to prepare a soup for
the rabbits, to water the old man’s
plants so they don’t die, put laundry
in the washing machine or discover
what the little bears are dreaming.
In 1994 Anna-Clara Tidholm had
another innovative idea for little
children’s picture books, “twowords-books”,
where two titles in
a long series stand out: “Läsa bok”
and “Apan fin” (“Read Book” and
“Pretty Monkey”, 1999). The former
portrays a mouse boy who has to
remain indoors because of rain.

Through the window he watches
the scene: wild animals, high
mountains, many trees and finally
he sits down with a book: “Läsa
bok” (“Read book”)! In “Apan fin”
a little girl goes out into the world
and meets a dog, she is scared and
brave and returns home – wet but
unharmed.
Male and female, yes, but for
once passively and meditatively in
the first instance, actively and enterprising
in the second! Moreover
these two books demonstrate that
simple stories of 26 words on 13
spreads may expand the traditional
children’s book for toddlers with
respect to choice of words, motifs
and objects in new and unexpected
ways.
Throughout her entire production,
especially from the 1990s and
onwards, Anna-Clara Tidholm has
switched between depicting animals
or humans with ease. According to
her sometimes animals are more
suitable, when you look for something
common and do not wish to
disturb the story with too many
social specifications. One example
is the picture book “En liten stund”
(“A Short While”, 2006) where it
is more relaxed and permissive to
portray the children as rabbits; the
children can live alone, wash the
dishes, cook and walk over to each
other without creating a number of
questions. At the same time she fulfils
a wish: to produce a traditional
and friendly animal picture book
in the spirit of Beatrix Potter. There
are several references especially to
Peter Rabbit. It has been said about
this book that it is not the rabbit
qualities of Peter Rabbit that are of
interest to a child, but the possibility
of recognizing himself in what is
happening to the rabbit.
Movies
In 2001 the first animated film was
made based on one of the books by
the Tidholms, “Jims vinter” (“Jim’s
Winter”, 1988).This work stimulated
thoughts about how to find
an appeal and a suitable tempo for
an animated film for toddlers. The
result was “Snuttefilm” for small
children (2008), five stories each of
five minutes, based on three of her
picture books: “Apan fin” (“Pretty
Monkey”, 1999) and “Hela natten”
(“All Night Long”, 2002) and “Alla
får åka med” (“Everyone Can Ride
Along”, 2004). The collection also
contains two original manuscripts,
“Simons anka” and “Nelly packar”
(“Simon’s Duck” and “Nelly Packs
Her Bag”, 2008) which later were
published as picture books. One
model has been the TV-series
13

“Teletubbies”, which has been much
discussed among adults in Sweden
for a number of years. Anna-Clara
Tidholm defended the series from
the start because of its perfect tone
with respect to dramaturgy for
small children: the slow tempo,
many repetitions, typified characters
and generalised personalties.
For a couple of decades Anna-Clara
Tidholm has been considered one
of the foremost picture book artists
in Sweden, unique in her approach
to children and in her constant
perusal of theoretical questions
concerning the being of children.
Her naïve pictorial style may seem
spontaneous and unaffected, but
her background work is considered
unusually deep and genuine among
illustrators.
On her lecturing tours in the
Nordic countries and in a series of
new cultural and debate articles she
reveals deep interests in modern
theories of the brain, depth psychology
as well as theories about
the linguistic and cognitive development
of children. She is a headstrong
and independent thinker
14
prepared for struggle with many
questions concerning the traditional
views of children. Her methods
of exploring the models of other
writers and illustrators, building on
traditions and concepts, make her
texts rich in symbols of great diversity.
One completely unexpected
intertext can be found in “En liten
stund” as a reference to Gillian
Welch’s “One little song” from the
cd “Soul Journey”!
While Anna-Clara Tidholm has
come from the textual side as a
poet, writer and student of literature,
she lacks formal art education;
this is both an asset and a deficiency,
in her own opinion. This fact
may explain why she approaches
her assignments the way she does:
with less focus on the main characters,
and the way they look and
other details, but the more concentrated
on the reader as well as on
the complexity and depth of the
complete work.
Ulla Rhedin
Ph.D.
Picture book critic in the Swedish daily
Dagens Nyheter
Translated by Marshall Ansell

anna-Clara tidholm’s previous books
oFor the last thirty-five years Anna-
Clara Tidholm has been drawing
for children in a naivistic style not
far removed from children’s own
way of drawing and with a depth
and feeling that are also closely
related to child-hood. Her pictures
have become increasingly poetic
with the years. Her midnight blue
skies full of stars communicate a
longing for eternity. The bright,
happy drawings from the beginning
of time in “Kasper’s alla dagar” (All
Caspar’s Days,1994) fill the beholder
with the joy of life.
The subjects that she portrays
range from creation to death and,
in between, such varied matters as
space trips, everyday life at nursery
school, love, the history of the universe,
getting a sister or brother...
She has retold and reillustrated
fables and fairy-tales and she has
brought new life to books for the
very young with a series of simple,
very colourful and playful books
for infants. The first, called “Knacka
på!” (“Knock, Knock, Knock!”), was
published in 1992. Regardless of
subject and of the intended age of
the readers, Anna-Clara Tidholm is
always on the side of the child.
Anna-Clara was born in Stock-
holm in 1946. After matriculation
she studied literature at university
and worked as a journalist and
author before turning to drawing.
Her first illustrated books were, on
the one hand, politically critical in
a manner typical of the period and,
on the other hand, renarrations
of fairy-tales such as “Jätten och
ekorren” (The Giant and the Squirrel),
“Sagan om osten” (Tale of the
Cheese), “Korven” (The Sausage),
“Pojken och hans ulliga får” (The
Boy and his Woolly Sheep).
In 1970 Anna-Clara moved with
her family from Stockholm to Hälsingland
in northern Sweden where
they still live.
Books in collaboration with
Thomas Tidholm
In 1983 “Åkeboken” (Åke’s Book),
which Anna-Clara had produced
in collaboration with her husband,
the poet and musician Thomas
Tidholm, was published. It represents
something new in her creative
work.
The text of “Åkeboken” is simple
and childlike. What happens in the
story is seemingly unthreatening
and common-place but there is an
un-easiness, an uncanny feeling
15

“Åkeboken” (Åke’s Book)
under-lying the text. A mood that is
rein-forced by the wild, expressive
pictures. Anna-Clara makes use of
ink drawings coloured with crayon
and with broad strokes as a frame
holding the picture together. Åke
himself is a serious-minded fairhaired
young man with a challenging
expression and a stripy T-shirt.
A character that reappears in various
guises in several books.
“Not having any artistic training
I have to work out my own solutions.
I have to reduce and simplify
and develop my own techniques”,
Anna-Clara has explained in connection
with “Åkeboken”. “Often
it is time-demanding, problematic
and laborious – my solution has
often been to try to imagine how
children would draw and then to
imitate them. For a nine-year-old
nothing is impossible or remarkable.”
16
“Åkeboken” was the first in a
series of books by Anna-Clara and
Thomas Tidholm dealing with existential
problems at children’s level
in a way that is both poetic and
philosophical and which appeals
both to children and adults.
“Resan till Ugri-La-Brek” (The
Journey to Ugri-La-Brek) is, perhaps,
the best known and best
loved. It was published in 1987 and
deals with two children, Hinken
and Myran and their dog called
Strunt. The children’s grandfather
has disappeared and their parents
refuse to say where he is. His flat is
empty and on the table by his armchair
are his glasses and his pools
coupon. The children determine to
look for their grandfather and set
out on a journey to the other side of
the world. In order to get there they
have to cross a wide, dark river. On
“resan till Ugri-La-Brek” (the Journey to
Ugri-La-Brek)

the other side everything is cold
and frozen. But in the little village
of Ugri-La-Brek (which means “village
where the smoke goes straight
up”) they find grandfather who is
very well. The children can happily
return home.
Nowhere is it stated that grandfather
is dead. Indeed the reader
does not even have to read the story
in that light but can enjoy it as an
exciting adventure in space and
time.
The expressive illustrations use
strong colours and generally spread
over the whole page. They are not
framed but Anna-Clara has chosen
to make them fill the page or has
brush strokes out to the edges. The
perspective has been chosen so that
one can see the earth’s curve and
can understand that the children really
wander “to the other side of the
world”. Anna-Clara has explained
that: “What is one to do when one
gets such an impossible demand
from the text that one is obliged to
draw the whole world? Nobody can
manage that, I think and I get angry
at the author. But then I go over to
my childlike perspective: a nineyear-old
would merely get started.
What do you mean impossible?
This is what the world looks like!”
“Resan till Ugri-La-Brek” was
awarded the Deutsche Jugendli-
teraturpreis in 1992 and it has been
dramatized and performed by various
theatre groups in Sweden. In
the autumn of 1995 it was produced
by the Swedish National Touring
theatre which performed it in
schools and at family performances.
In 1996 it was premiered in Berlin.
The book has been translated into
Danish, Norwegian, German and
Japanese.
“Balladen om Marjan och Rolf ”
(Ballad of Marian and Rolf), a
further collaboration between
Anna-Clara and Thomas Tidholm
appeared in 1989. This is
a modern Robin Hood story as
well as a love story which takes
place in the provincial Swedish
town of Katrineholm. The illustra-
“Balladen om marjan och rolf” (Ballad of
marian and rolf)
17

tions are in subdued colours and
framed with powerful water-colour
brush-strokes. They are not fully
as boundless as the illustrations in
the book on Ugri-La-Brek which
are perfectly in harmony with the
story. In this case the conflict takes
place within and between people.
The whole world is to be found in
Katrineholm. Marjan loves Rolf
who is a robber living in the mountains,
a wildman who never washes
his hair. He is a solitary boy who is
without a mother and who has run
away from everything. But Marjan’s
father, who is a policeman, arrests
Rolf and locks him up. It is only
when Marjan saves Rolf that he can
accept that she, a girl, can also be a
robber in the forest.
When the hour of liberty chimes
for the two children there is no
longer a frame to keep them within
the picture. They are standing on a
mountain with an optimistically red
sky in the background.
“Vill ha syster!” (Want Sister!,
1991) is more difficult to interpret.
It deals with a small boy, one of
Anna-Clara’s round-eyed, serious
boy figures in a stripy T-shirt. He
has no name but is called “you”.
He tells his parents that he wants
a sister and they promise him one
in due course. But time passes and
18
“Vill ha syster!” (Want sister!)
when he feels most lonely and sad
he discovers a house that he has
never seen before. An old man and
his wife live there and they invite
the boy in. He stays in the chaotic
house for several days. One day is
green and he can play in the Tivoli
Woods that are in the house. One
day is blue and he bathes in the
Blue Sea. One day is yellow and
he plays alone in the burning sand
of the Sunshine Land. Then he
feels homesick and, in spite of the
protests of his hosts, he leaves them
and the old man and his wife shrink
and disappear entirely, as does the
house. The boy takes a newly laid
bird’s egg with him and goes home
– to discover that he has just got
a little sister. “– I know, you say.
It was hard work. But it was very
strange and exciting too.” On the

“förr i tiden i skogen” (in the old days in the forest)
final page he holds his little sister
tenderly in his grasp.
Anna-Clara’s way of using colour
helps the book to communicate
how chaotic and difficult the period
before a brother or sister is born
can seem. At home with mummy
and daddy the colours are sunny
and cheerful while in the chaotic
house they are strong, glaring and
obtrusive; hurtful to the eyes. When
the boy flees home again the night
is dark blue with only a few stars
and thin strips of light but the sky
gets lighter as he gets nearer home
and when his mother and father
stand there with the new-born baby
the picture is, once again, filled
with sunshine. The same hopeful,
happy sunshine is to be found in
“Kaspers alla dagar” (All Caspar’s
Days, 1994), a story, or rather a
legend from the time when Caspar
still wandered about in the world.
Everything was newly created and
there was no order yet. There are
obvious allusions to the Bible but
the book preaches a gospel of freedom,
generosity and child-likeness.
The pictures too are generous.
They fill the whole spread and, just
like the illustrations to “Resan till
19

Ugri-La-Brek”, they cover the whole
world. One sees the mountains
and trees and the sea and houses
and the curve of the earth all at
once – and the world is beautiful
and a delight to live in. “Förr i tiden
i skogen” (In the Old Days in the
Forest, 1993) is a completely different
sort of book. It is a story about a
boy who lived a long time ago when
distances between the farms in the
north were great and words were
sparse. It was so difficult to say what
one meant that people preferred to
keep silent and let the one whom
they wanted to retain travel on his
way. Anna-Clara’s illustrations show
the harshness of life and the austerity
of human relationships. Her
illustrations are like old-fashioned
school pictures. Indeed, the whole
book is reminiscent of Swedish
picture books, such as those of Elsa
Beskow, from an earlier epoque
with the text and a black and white
illustration on the left-hand side
with the right side filled by a colour
picture. “Förr i tiden i skogen”
has been translated into Danish,
Norwegian, French, Japanese and
German.
Thomas and Anna-Clara Tidholm
have also produced a number
of easy readers for slightly older
children, books with short chapters
and black and white illustrations
20
including “Glöm inte jordnötterna”
(Don’t Forget the Peanuts), “Jims
vinter” (Jim’s Winter) and “Ett jobb
för Jacko” (A Job for Jacko).
Two books for very small children
appeared in 1995. “Ture blåser
bort” (Ture Blows Away) and “Ture
kokar soppa” (Ture Makes Soup).
These books, with texts by Thomas
Tidholm that are poetic in a fashion
close to children, are in ’look
and say’ format wich Anna-Clara
has used to great effect. When little
Ture is presented he takes up only a
small part of the page. On the next
spread his house, very logically,
fills a larger space and when Ture,
together with his dog, is borne out
into the wide world by the wind the
illustrations are large and generous,
covering the whole page. They
are realistic stories with a fabulous
“ture blåser bort” (ture Blows away)

dimension. Perhaps one could class
them as magical realism for the
very small.
Collaboration with other authors
Anna-Clara Tidholm has also illustrated
the work of other authors.
Among the most interesting are
“Barnens svenska historia, del 1.
När människorna kom” (Children’s
History of Sweden, Part 1. When
the People Came) by Sonja Hulth.
It begins 70 000 years ago when
it started snowing in Sweden. It
snowed and snowed and snowed ...
Many thousand years were to pass
before spring returned. The book
ends about 1000 AD. Text and illustrations
show how the ice melts
and makes room for animals and
people, how the people co-operate
and start settlements, how they get
food, play and organize their lives.
The illustrations are poetic and full
of empathy. It is easy for children
to identify with their comrades
far back in history. There are also
instructive drawings of runes and
rock carvings.
“Pojken och stjärnan” (The Boy
and the Star) with a text by Barbro
Lindgren (1991) narrates a sad and
dramatic story set in a circus. The
star is a little pony that is born on
the same night as the fire-eater’s
son. The boy and the pony become
best friends but when the pony
does not dare to jump from a high
tower into a tiny pool, the circus
director gets angry and decides to
send it for slaughter. The star flees
and experiences numerous dangerous
adventures before he is finally
reunited with the boy in the happy
conclusion.
Anna-Clara’s pictures of the
pony are tender and just as loving
as are the star and the boy towards
each other. The colours are rich
and vibrant and the pictorial solutions
unconventional. “Pojken och
stjärnan” has been dramatized and
performed in various theatres including
a musical version at Sweden’s
National Theatre with a score
by Georg Riedel.
Own books
Among books that Anna-Clara
Tidholm has both written and illustrated
is “Allihop” (All of Them)
(1993) which was originally a TV
programme or, rather, a series
of programmes. The setting is a
play-school and the children attending
it are portrayed in words
and pictures. It shows a section of
Swedish society with the children’s
varying social environments as a
background but it is their personalities
that are important. The reader
21

“allihop” (all of them)
meets Frida, who likes things to
be organized and tidy, Evert who
does not enjoy playing and who
feels so lonely in the play-school,
dark-haired Rosita who is much too
kind, Jonny who is both strong and
kind and Britta who has everything
except her mother’s and father’s
time and attention.
“Allihop” is very popular at
nurseries because the children feel
that it is about themselves. It is
generously illustrated with several
pictures on every spread.
“Ett fall för Nalle” (A Case for
Teddy) (1988) is a detective story
for small children in thirteen chapters,
illustrated in black and white.
Nalle starts a detective agency and,
in the accepted manner of private
detectives, he solves one case after
another. “Ett fall för Nalle” was
originally a radio series.
22
“ett fall för
Nalle” (a
Case for
teddy)
In 1992 Anna-Clara Tidholm
published a book for very small
children, just above the ’look and
say’ level, that caused great rejoicing
among reviewers – as well as
children. “Knacka på!” (Knock,
Knock, Knock!) in which the child
and the adult go through different
coloured doors and discover exciting
things behind them. This book
was followed in rapid succession
by “Ut och gå!”, “Hitta på!” and
“Varför då?” (Out Walking, Find
Out! and Tell Me Why). “A book for
the very young to rejoice about” the
periodical Vi Föräldrar wrote. And
Lärarnas tidning wrote that “She
has created a classic on the level of
the predecessor “Nalle” (Teddy). In
Opsis Kalopsis Susanna Ekström
wrote : “I believe that Anna-Clara
Tidholm has done more than
anyone else to renew picture books
for infants in Sweden. Her way

“Knacka på!” (Knock, Knock, Knock!)
of using colour, of expanding the
pictorial space and introducing
unexpected motifs is revolutionary”.
These books have been translated
into Norwegian, Danish, German,
Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Japanese.
Portuguese, French, Faeroese,
Iclandic, Hebrew, Polish, Italian and
English.
“Varför då?” (tell me Why)
In her books for small children
Anna-Clara shows how well she is
able to empathize with children’s
thoughts and feelings, what they
find exciting and diverting. The
books can be used for stimulating
play involving children and adults
at the same time as they provide
children with artistic and aesthetic
experiences. Every page is like a
painting with rich, cheerful colours
specially created for this particular
age-group.
Manifold talents
Anna-Clara Tidholm has by no
means restricted herself to picture
books. She has had several exhibitions
at which she has shown book
illustrations as well as water-colours
and oil-paintings. She makes radio
and TV programmes and her first
publication was a collection of
poems for adults (1966). From time
to time she participates in public
discussion of cultural issues and she
visits schools to talk about books
and art.
Her perspective is the child’s and
she constantly maintains her solidarity
with the children.
Birgitta Fransson
Translated by William Jewson
23

eading should be non-educational
to have fun, that’s what reading is all about, says anna-Clara tidholm,
illustrator and writer. all that other talk about how useful and important
it is to read, she doesn’t like.
Anna-Clara Tidholm is the author
of picture books like Apan fin (Pretty
Monkey), Hela natten (All Night
Long) and of course Knacka på!
(Knock knock knock!). Books that
in the highest degree introduced
and established the genre småbarnsböcker
(infant books). An infant
book is meant for children up
to about three years. Infant books
must, says Anna-Clara, be very
carefully adapted to the lowest ages.
They must be simple and small children’s
level. The content must limit
itself to things that infants are supposed
to have seen or experienced.
And that is a question for both
the writing and the pictures. The
picture book parts from the “pointing
out-book” through its precise
adapted text (words).
She is working with happy and
strong colours and with pictures
that are simple, distinct and in clear
interplay with the text.
– When it comes to colours, I
think you have to overdo it a bit
working with infant books. And
24
besides, I like “toy-colours”.
Talking about the clearness in
the pictures, it is important but that
doesn’t mean that she only deal
with reproducing reality.
– No, it should be boring. To the
reproducing you must add a feeling,
a tune or an expression. My
task is not to be pedagogic. I have
no ambition to teach the children
about colours or anything like that.
My task is to supply adventures,
experiences.
Anna-Clara tells me about a mistake
she has made about the clearness
in her pictures. Like one with
speed-lines.
It is in the book Find out where
a building of toy bricks is falling
down, accompanied with these
words:
“Hitta på att rulla buller Hoppa
dunsa Ramla Brak! Faller leksaker
ner på golvet med en farlig fart”
Among all the things that fall is
a monkey. To mark the enormous
speed, Anna-Clara painted white
speed-lines. Lines that cover the
arm of the monkey. Reading chil

dren noticed with despair that the
monkeys arm was broken.
– I felt very irritated by such a
mistake. But when the story was to
be reprinted in an anthology. I got
a chance to correct the mistake, so I
did. It was a good feeling.
The picture is the most important
in an infant book, but the text is
also important. The words themselves
are not only significant, they
form a rhythm, a melody and are
by that an entrance to the language,
explains Anna-Clara who very carefully
has formulated two-wordssentences
like
“Ute regnar
himmel grå
Vara inne
Hitta på!”
(Out raining
Sky grey
Be inside
Find out!)
And
”Lilla huset
Blåa dörren
Ska vi gå
Och hälsa på?”
(Little house
Door blue
Shall we go
Drop in?)
Books must have a way in, otherwise
the supposed reader will be
left outside the door, excluded from
the bookpages and their content. A
carefully formulated text in combination
with interplaying pictures
can open up the book wide to small
children.
– Sometimes parents write to me
and tell me that they have read for
example Knock, knock, knock! with
their child. “He is just nine months
old and wow, it works”, they say
with enthusiasm. They are happy
and I am happy. You won’t have that
feeling, if the book is on the wrong
level.
Round Sweden there are a lot of
reading promotion projects going
on, more or less successful.
Municipalities that give money for
reading-projects and give books to
children who enter school or preschool
or celebrate one year or are
newborn. A well-intentioned work
25

with uncertain results, Anna-Clara
thinks.
– If you want to send out books
to children, you must be aware of
how and why you do it. You must
come in the right time with the
right books. In many places they
are so pleased with having sent out
a book, that they are quite satisfied
with that. Many of them can not
see the difference between an infant
book and a picture book. But a
book for a one-year old and a book
for a five-year old are quite different
things. And to give an anthology to
a newborn child, is totally meaningless.
There are too many pedagogic
thoughts behind the choice of
books, says Anna-Clara. The ones
who choose books are turning to
the parents more than to the children.
– They don’t put the child in the
center, in spite of what many proclaims
they do.
The parents often think the same
and emphasize the utility aspect
or they are forced by the delight to
introduce books that meant a lot
to them in their own childhood.
Parents start to read books out loud
too early. You can’t pick up Astrid
Lindgren’s “Emil in Lönneberga”
and read it to a two-year old child.
26
Many people yet do it, because they
are so keen. Many read Pippi as
well – but think about it! It is too
difficult for small children. There
is a whole world to experience and
understand before you can understand
Pippi.
The contents of Pippi, Emil and
other wellknown children books are
hidden for small children, but nevertheless
the infants world is full of
their symbols. It is Pippi dolls, Winnie
the Pooh on the bib and Laban
the ghost on the feeding bottle.
– Small children’s culture is emptied
of its content. There is just the
surface left. Therefore the infants
books will be of greater importance.
They present a substance which the
children can understand, Anna-
Clara explains. It’s not just about
the book taking place in an arena
which is familiar to the kid. There
are other conditions that are as important
to relate to. She tells about
a boy who read just an opening in
her book “Hela natten” (All Night
Long). There was a picture of a for-

est and in the forest there was an
owl. To him the book became “The
Owl-book”.
My books are on purpose made
in a way that you mustn´t read
from the beginning to the end. You
can start from the middle or read
only an opening. Infants are simply
not interested in everything. Don’t
think that. Reading shall be noneducational
and voluntarily. All that
discussion about the useful reading
is a bit stupid and moralizing. Like
“read for your children otherwise
they will be out of work when they
grow up”.
The social interaction in playing
and reading together, can the television
or other media never compete
with, is Anna-Clara’s point. For the
rest she thinks that the importance
of reading is exaggerated.
– Actually, I don’t know why
reading should be so much better
for the children than watching TV,
she says and notices then that also
infants watch TV and Dvd either
we find it useful or not.
– Well, then you could make
something good instead, which
is adapted to them. Besides Teletubbies
there are no programs
specially made for this age-group,
says Anna-Clara who now together
with the animator, Gun Jacobson is
planning to do something about it.
They have made a pilot study, but
are preparing for a whole series of
films under the title “Snuttefilm”
and they are dealing with both old
and new stories.
– First I didn’t like the idea, but if
it is good adapted, I find it okey. But
I have never thought that my books
should be used for anything else
than reading.
Together with Ulla Rhedin, PhD in
Literature, Anna-Clara some years
ago was out in the pre-schools talking
about infant books. She discovered
then that infant books is a
relatively new phenomenon.
– I used to mention the classics
“Kattresan” (The Cats Journey)
and the story about the little, little
old woman. There are not so many
more books, not in a historical
perspective. Nowadays there are of
27

course some more but it’s no abundance
of them.
Siv Widerberg and Cecilia
Torudd have made a book about
chairs and one about pillows.
– They are funny. And I like Helena
Davidsson Neppelbergs books
about Vera. Or else there isn’t much
to read for the children when they
are small.
Some books have dull texts.
Others are badly translated. And
there is not so much new thinking
in the infant books, says Anna-
Clara who is convinced that it is
easier to think in new ways if you
have a theory as a startingpoint for
your creative work.
The theory she has worked from
is that small children can not identify
with main characters in books.
– Most infant books have a Totte,
a Max or an Emma, but in my
books it is the reader herself who is
the main character. I don’t know if
I am right, but in my infant books
there are no main characters. Eva
Eriksson’s and Barbro Lindgren’s
books about Max are some of
Anna-Clara’s favourites but there
are young parents who don’t like
them at all, she tells.
– There are those who think
that the Max books are boring and
grumbling and that they give a negative
outlook on life through stick-
28
ing only to the children’s conflicts.
So I decided to make a book with a
more positive outlook on life.
The result was “Alla får åka med”
(Everyone Can Ride Along) where
a girl drives a big truck and picks
up a boy who has tumbled down,
a dog who is freezing and some
other lonely and sad existences and
everything ends up with eating and
a feeling of solidarity in the big
house. Linda Skugge named it a
“progg-book”. She didn’t like it.
But perhaps it is that sort of books
that are needed in this times, books
about solidarity and generosity.
Anna-Clara has no new infant
book going on. Her publisher tries
to convince her about long series to
sell abroad.
– I haven’t agreed to that. I have
said that I can make another book
which in that case will be called

“Ingen får åka med” (Nobody can
Ride Along). But joking apart, “Everyone
Can Ride Along” has actually
been sold to several countries,
she tells, pleased with the thought
that children get access to her and
other’s infant books. She has been
out touring and talking about this
issue in pre-schools, BVC (children
care centrals) and libraries. She
wishes that the persons working on
BVCs and at libraries as well as the
parents should get more knowledge
about infant books, their meaning
and offers.
– When it comes to teaching in
children’s literature at the institutes
of education, it seems that it more
often takes its startingpoint in
the literature than in the children
themselves. The pre-school teachers
should learn more about which
books are suitable for different ages.
Projects about infant books must
start from the childrens own basic
level.
Anna-Clara was, as she describes it
herself, a hysterically reading child
and is very precise with separating
different sorts of reading. Her own
she calls lonely-reading.
– I used the stories of the books
as escape and fantasy. That is not
something I will recommend to
others, she says.
The other way of reading you
could call together-reading. That’s
what small children do, and they
should get the chance to do it much
more.
– To infants reading is a very
social thing. Children are very open
for interaction and books give them
possibilities for that. Many times it’s
the person who reads, who is interesting,
more than the book itself.
– A good book functions both
with adults and children. The reading
is a superior manner for children
and adults to have fun together.
Helen Lumholdt
in the magazine Förskolan
(The Pre-school) nr. 8/ 2005
Translated by Sven Hallonsten
29

anna-Clara tidholm: one more time
Yes, books are outstanding. And of
course it is excellent reading books.
It is a truth, hard to questioning.
In our culture every child needs an
adjustment to the world of languages.
Children’s books are one
of the most important tools in that
schooling.
But in despite of my self working
with children’s books, I have
sometimes problems conforming
to the certainty of belief in reading
promotion. Librarians, teachers,
preschool persons – everybody are
doing a marvellous work, helping
those books we are producing
reaching the children. Without
their competence and work we
would be helpless drifting in the sea
of commerce. Where our sometimes
curious and not-so-cute
books would drown and sink (to
the bottom)!
Of course children need books –
but children need even more fairly
stable grownups, clean air, warm
clothes in winter and a lot of time
and room and possibilities and
freedom to play. Yes. Most of all
play- because play is the real core
of childhood, when it is allowed to
30
go on undisturbed and under the
protection of adults, mentally close
but on just sufficiently distance.
In playing are included all that we
put into the conception of culture,
play includes all the forms of art:
music, theatre, architecture, dance,
circus, art, language. But on children’s
own conditions and their
own chosen levels.
The critic of children’s books Magnus
William-Olsson, who every
year writes unpredictably surveys
in the newspaper Aftonbladet, was
in one of his texts surprised of the
absence of play in children’s books.
He did not mean descriptions of

children playing, but the fact that
children’s books so seldom use the
play as starting point and substance.
Both in the books and in our way of
using them, adult literary concepts
is in fact dominating. The book
shall have action, main characters,
a conflict and a distinct ending.
Like in books for adults. When we
use a book for children we read it.
Unconsciously we pass our adult
way of assimilating literature to the
children. And feel like good reading-promotioners…
When producing books for small
children I have become aware of
the potential of a picture book to
pass the borders of the literary
concept of the adult. Here you don’t
need action! And very few words.
I have been able to work with text
and picture more freely than in my
story-telling picture books. The
book doesn’t need to be so finished
– but has to contain a substance,
which the child can explore and
experience, play with! Words and
pictures can together make a whole,
a meaning – if the child itself wants
it. Some children focus on only
one picture, which for them has a
special meaning, that we adults not
always understand. Other children
love just the thrilling turn over of
pages.
In fact everything is possible. And
sooner or later the child, if there are
books at hand, will get that ahaexperience:
the book, the pictures
and the words has a meaning, just
for me. One more time!
Anna-Clara Tidholm
Artist and author
Translated by Britt Isaksson
31

Biography
Born in Stockholm in 1946
She has worked as
• a journalist on daily newspapers
and a freelancer for radio
and television
• self-taught illustrator (children’s
books, animated film, exhibitions,
magazines, posters, cartoons,
etc.))
• author (collection of verse 1966,
children’s books, children’s radio,
Chronicles in magazines and
newspapers)
Anna-Clara Tidholm lives in Arbrå,
Hälsingland in northern Sweden
where she also keeps hens and
sheep
32
Prizes
Elsa Beskow plaque 1986
Expressen’s Heffaklump 1987 for
“Resan till Ugri-La-Brek”
Gävleborg County Cultural Award
1989
Litteraturfrämjandet’s Award for
Books for Children and Young
People 1989
Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis 1992
for “Resan till Ugri-La-Brek”
Pier Paolo Vergeri’s Special Mention
for “Resan till Ugri-La-Brek”
Wettergren’s Barnbokollon 1993 for
“Förr i tiden i skogen”
The August Prize 2002 for Adjö,
herr Muffin (text by Ulf Nilsson)
Anna-Clara Tidholm is entitled to
the Guaranteed Author’s Allowance

Bibliography
BoLaGet, PLUttarNa oCh
mosKroGafoLKet
The Company, the Dots and the Moskroga People
Text: Mats Arvidsson & Rahtje Vierth
Bonniers 1970
tiLLBaKs tiLL NatUreN
Back to Nature
Bonniers 1970
Vad Bosse fiCK se
What Bosse Saw
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Rabén & Sjögren 1971
JÄtteN oCh eKorreN
The Giant and the Squirrel
Ägget 1980
Danish: Kaempen, der icke kunne blive maet.
Sesam 1987
saGaN om osteN
oCh aNdra saGor
The Tale of the Cheese and other Tales
Gidlunds 1981
KorVeN, folksaga
The Sausage, a folktale
Ägget 1982
PoJKeN oCh haNs ULLiGa fÅr,
folksaga
The Boy and his Woolly Sheep, a folktale
Rabén & Sjögren 1982
Danish: Drengen og hans tottede får. Høst 1983
ÅKeBoKeN
Åke’s Book
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Ägget 1983
GLÖm iNte JordNÖtterNa!
Don’t forget the peanuts!
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Ägget 1983
Danish: Glem ikke jordnødderne! Alrune 1993
sPÅrLÖst Borta
No trace
Text: Ulf Nilsson
Bonniers 1984
Danish: Sporløst førsvunnet. Sesam 1985
KaNiN med NedhÄNGaNde ÖroN
Rabbit with Hanging Ears
Korpen 1985
BarNeNs sVeNsKa historia 1,
När människorna kom
Childrens’ History of Sweden
– When the People came
Text: Sonja Hulth
Rabén & Sjögren 1986
ett JoBB fÖr JaCKo
A Job for Jacko
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Rabén & Sjögren 1987
Japanese: Sakasu-nante y Ameta. Iwasaki
Shoten 1988
Danish: Et job til Jacko. Alrune 1992
resaN tiLL UGri-La-BreK
The Journey to Ugri-La-Brek
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1987
Danish: Rejsen til Ugri-la-Brek. Høst&Søn 1995
Japanese, Holp Shuppan/EA 1995
Dutch, Querido 1995
Norwegian: Reisen til Ugri-la-Brek. Carlsen
1995
German: Die reise nach Ugri-la-Brek. Beltz
1995
33

ett faLL fÖr NaLLe
A Case for Teddy
Alfabeta 1988
Danish: Bamse klarer alt. Høst 1990
German: Bruno bär, detektiv. Hanser 1995
Japanese, Holp Shuppan/EA 1996
Jims ViNter
Jim’s Winter
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1988
UNiVersUms historia
The History of the Universe
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Morkullan 1988
se UPP fÖr eLefaNterNa
Beware of the Elephants!
Text: Ulf Nilsson
Bonniers 1989
Finnish: Varokaa norsuja. WSOY 1990
Norwegian: Max i dyrebutikken. Damm1990
French: Gare aux éléphants! Kid Pocket 1994
BaLLadeN om marJaN oCh roLf
Ballad of Marian and Rolf
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1989
Danish: Balladen om Marie og Rolf. Høst&Søn
1991
Japanese, Holp Shuppan/EA 1996
ViLL ha sYster!
Want Sister!
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1991
PoJKeN oCh stJÄrNaN
The Boy and the Star
Text: Barbro Lindgren
Eriksson & Lindgren 1991
Danish: Drengen og stjernen. Gyldendal 1993
Norwegian: Gutten og stjerna. Det Norske
Samlaget 1993
Finnish: Poijka ja tähti. Tammi 1993
34
KNaCKa PÅ!
Knock, Knock, Knock!
Alfabeta 1992
Norwegian: Banke på. Gyldendal 1992, 2006
Danish: Banke på! Gyldendal 1992
Dutch: Klop, klop, klop. Middernacht 1992
German: Klopf an! Hanser 1993
Finnish: Koputetaan Schildts 1994
French, Albin Michel 1994
Korean, Sakyejul 1994, 2007
Japanese, Holp Shuppan/EA 1996
Portuguese, Callis (Bra) 1998
Faeroese, Bokadeild 2001
Hebrew, Agam publishing 2006
Polish, Zakamarki 2008
English, MacKenzie Smiles (US) 2009
soVa ÖVer
Staying the Night
Text: Siv Widerberg
Rabén & Sjögren 1992
Norwegian: Sove borte. Bokklubbens Barn 1993
Danish: Sove sammen. Gyldendal 1993
Laplandish: Idjadit. Sami Girjjit 1992
Laplandish: Isjastallat. Sami Girjjit 1992
German: Heut schlafe ich bei Fredrik. Maier
1993
GUNGa Lite GraNN
Dandle a bit
Songs by Jujja and Tomas Wieslander
Natur and Kultur 1993
aLLihoP
All of Them
Rabén & Sjögren 1993
Norwegian: Alle sammen. De Norske Bokklubbene
1994
Norwegian: Alle sammen. Gyldendal Norsk
1995
fÖrr i tideN i sKoGeN
In the Old Days in the Forest
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1993
Danish: I skoven for laenge siden. Carlsen 1993
French: Moi je veux aller a l’ecole. Mango 1993

Japanese, Holp Shuppan/EA 1993
Norwegian: Før i tiden i skogen. Aschehoug
1993
German: Als Natan klein var. Beltz 1993
hitta PÅ!
What to Do?
Alfabeta 1993
Norwegian: Finne på. Gyldendal 1992
German: Denk dir was aus! Hanser 1993
Dutch: Wil je met me spelen? Middernacht 1993
Danish: Finde på! Gyldendal 1993
Finnish: Etsitään! Schildts 1994
Korean, Sakyejul 1994, 2007
Japanese, Holp Shupan/EA 1996
French, Albin Michel 1996
Portuguese, Callis (Bra) 1998
Hebrew, Agam publishing 2006
Ut oCh GÅ!
Out Walking!
Alfabeta 1993
Danish: Ud at gå! Gyldendal 1992
Norwegian: Ut og gå! Gyldendal 1992
Dutch: Ge je mee naar. Middernacht 1993
Finnish: Seikkai luun! Schildts 1994
Korean, Sakyejul 1994, 2007
Japanese, Holp Shuppan/EA 1996
Faeroese, Bokadeild 2001
Hebrew, Agam publishing 2006
Polish, Zakamarki 2008
VarfÖr dÅ?
Why?
Alfabeta 1994
Danish: Hvorfor det? Gyldendal 1994
Finnish: Miksi noin? Schildts 1994
Japanese, Holp Shuppan/EA 1994
Korean, Sakyejul 1994, 2007
Dutch: Waarom? Middernacht 1994
Norwegan: Hvorfor det? Gyldendal 1994
German: Warum? Hanser 1994
Portuguese, Callis (Bra) 1998
Hebrew, Agam publishing 2006
KasPers aLLa daGar
All Caspar’s Days
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1994
Danish: Alle Kaspers dager. Høst&Søn 1995
Dutch: De dagen van Caspar. Middernacht 1995
Norwegian, Aschehoug 1995
tUre BLÅser Bort
Ture Blows Away
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1994
Danish: Herbert blaeser vaek. Gyldendal 1995
French, Albin Michel 1995
Japanese, Holp Shuppan/EA 1995
Dutch: Jacob waait weg. Middernacht 1995
German: Ture bläst es fort. Hanser 1995
Italian, Edizioni EL 2000
Korean, Nurimbo (Momo) 2004
tUre KoKar soPPa
Ture Makes Soup
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1995
Danish: Herbert laver suppe. Gyldendal 1995
French, Albin Michel 1995
Japanese, Holp Shuppan/EA 1995
Dutch: Jacob maakt soep. Middernacht 1995
German: Ture kandt suppe. Hanser 1995
Korean, Nurimbo (Momo) 2004
Italian, Edizioni EL 2000
LaNas LaNd
Lana’s Land
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1996
Danish, Carlsen 1997
Norwegian, Aschehoug 1997
tUre sitter oCh tittar
Ture Sits Looking
Alfabeta 1996
Danish, Gyldendal 1996
French, Albin Michel 1996
Dutch, Middernacht 1996
Korean, Nurimbo (Momo) 2004
35

tUre sKrÄPar Ner
Ture Makes a Mess
Alfabeta 1996
Danish, Gyldendal 1996
French, Albin Michel 1996
Dutch, Middernacht 1996
Italian, Edizioni EL 2000
Korean, Nurimbo (Momo) 2004
tUre BLir BLÖt
Ture Gets Wet
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1997
Danish, Gyldendal 1997
French, Albin Michel 1997
Dutch, Middernacht 1997
Korean, Nurimbo (Momo) 2004
tUre sKottar sNÖ
Ture Shovels Snow
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1997
Danish, Gyldendal 1997
French, Albin Michel 1997
Dutch, Middernacht 1997
Korean, Nurimbo (Momo) 2004
fLiCKorNas historia: från igelkottsflickan
på stenåldern till Julia i vår tid
The Girl’s History: from the Hedgehog-girl in the
Stone Age to Julia in Our Time
Text: Kristina Lindström
Alfabeta 1997
eN sVart hUNd
A Black Dog
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1997
NaLLe heJ!
Teddy Hello!
Alfabeta 1997
Danish, Sesam 1997
Italian, Edizioni EL 2000
German, Annette Betz 2000
36
tUre fÅr BesÖK
Ture Has a Visitor
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1998
tUre Borstar tÄNderNa
Ture Brushes his Teeth
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1998
aLLa dJUreN
All the Animals
Tidholm, Thomas; Tidholm, Anna-Clara
Alfabeta 1998
Danish, Gyldendal 1998
LÅNGa BeN
Long Legs
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 1999
Danish, Carlsen 1999
se Ut: en bok om människor
How Do You Look: a Book about People
Text: Lisa Berg Ortman
Alfabeta 1999
KaNiNeN som LÄNGtade hem.
The rabbit who longed for home
Text Lilian Edvall.
Rabén & Sjögren 1999
aPaN fiN
Pretty Monkey
Alfabeta 1999
Danish, Sesam 1999
Italian, Edizioni EL 2000
Dutch, Zirkoon 2000
German, Annette Betz 2000
mera mat!
More Food!
Alfabeta 2000
Danish, Sesam 2000
Dutch, Zirkoon 2000

LiLLa GrodaN
Little Frog
Alfabeta 2000
Danish, Sesam 2000
Dutch, Zirkoon 2000
German, Annette Betz 2000
LÄsa BoK
Read a Book
Alfabeta 2000
Danish, Sesam 1999
Italian, Edizioni EL 2000
Dutch, Zirkoon 2000
German, Annette Betz 2000
fLiCKaN som Bara ViLLe LÄsa
The Girl Who Only Wanted to Read
Text: Sonja Hulth
Alfabeta 2000
saGor frÅN sKoGeN
Stories from the Forrest
Alfabeta 2001
Japanese, Rutles (Tuttle Mori Agency) 2007
JoLaNta
Jolanta
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 2002
JaG BehÖVer LiLLBrorsaN
I Need My Little Brother
Text: Solja Krapu
Alfabeta 2002
heLa NatteN
All Night Long
Alfabeta 2002
Danish, Sesam 2002
Lite sJUK
Somewhat Ill
Alfabeta 2002
Danish, Sesam 2002
adJÖ, herr mUffiN
Good-bye Mr Muffin
Text Ulf Nilsson
BonnierCarlsen 2002
fLiCKorNas historia, eUroPa
The Girls History, Europe
Text Kristina Lindström .
Rabén & Sjögren 2002
PaPPaN som fÖrsVaNN
och andra berättelser för barn och vuxna
The Daddy Who Disappeared and Other Stories
for Children and Adults
Alfabeta 2003
aLLa fÅr ÅKa med
Everyone Can Ride Along
Alfabeta 2004
Dutch, Hillen 2005
Norwegian, Gyldendal 2005
German, Hanser 2005
VÄCK iNte deN BJÖrN som soVer:
sagor och sägner
Don’t Wake A Sleeping Bear: Stories and Myths
Text: Per Gustavsson
Alfabeta 2004
haNNa hUset hUNdeN
Hanna the House the Dog
Alfabeta 2004
NÄr Vi fiCK feLiX
When We Had Felix
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 2005
eN LiteN stUNd
A Short While
Alfabeta 2006
Danish, Gyldendal 2006
French, Oskar Editions 2006
37

sNÄLLa BarN
Nice Children
Text: Thomas Tidholm
Alfabeta 2007
simoNs aNKa
Simon’s Duck
Tidholm, Anna-Clara; Jacobson, Gun
Alfabeta 2008
NeLLY PaCKar
Nelly Packs Her Bag
Tidholm, Anna-Clara; Jacobson, Gun
Alfabeta 2008
Vad tÄNKer KNoddeN?
What is Knodden thinking of
Text: George Johansson
Natur & Kultur, 2009
miN famiLJ
My Family
Olika förlag 2009
38
CD-ROM
KNaCKa PÅ!
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Alfabeta Multimedia 1996
Danish: Banke på! EMP 1996
German: Klopf an! Terzio 1996
MOVIE / DVD
Jims ViNter
Jim’s Winter
Lisbet Gabrielsson Film AB 2001
sNUttefiLm fÖr de smÅ
(together with Gun Jacobson)
Lisbet Gabrielsson Film AB 2008
Alfabeta DVD 2008